The Old Man is an American dramathriller television series based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Thomas Perry. It was developed by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine and premiered on FX on June 16, 2022.[2] The first season consists of seven episodes.[3] Following its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season.[4]
Premise
Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) is a former CIA operative who has been living off-the-grid in Vermont for thirty years. After killing an intruder who breaks into his home, Chase is forced into hiding. While in hiding, Chase rents a room from Zoe McDonald (Amy Brenneman), with whom he is forced to partner while on the run.
FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Harold Harper (John Lithgow) is called upon to bring in Chase because of their complicated past during the Soviet–Afghan War. Working alongside Harper are his proteges, FBI agent Angela Adams (Alia Shawkat; in fact Chase's daughter Emily) and CIA officer Raymond Waters (E. J. Bonilla), as well as Julian Carson (Gbenga Akinnagbe), a hit-man hired by Harper to kill Chase.
Cast
Main
Jeff Bridges as Dan Chase / Henry Dixon / Johnny Kohler
The series was two-thirds of the way into shooting when production shut down in mid-March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[20] Production resumed in the fall with three episodes remaining to film,[20] but was soon halted when Bridges was diagnosed with lymphoma in October 2020 and left to undergo cancer treatment.[21] The show stayed in production for a short period after Bridges' diagnosis in order to shoot scenes from the remaining episodes that do not feature Bridges' character.[20] In September 2021, Bridges announced his cancer was in remission. Production ultimately resumed in February 2022.[22] On June 27, 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.[4]
Release
The series premiered on June 16, 2022, on FX in the United States and Canada.[23][2] It was also premiered on Disney+ (Star) on July 13, 2022, in Australia and New Zealand and Star+ in Latin America.[24]
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating with an average rating of 7.4/10, based on 59 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Old Man is just as intrepid and spiky—and derivative—as younger action heroes, with Jeff Bridges lending invaluable gravitas to this bone-crunching thriller."[25]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[26]
According to the streaming aggregator Reelgood, The Old Man was the most watched program across all platforms, during the week of June 24, 2022,[27][28] as well as during the week of June 29, 2022,[29] and during the week of July 2, 2022.[30] According to the streaming aggregator JustWatch, The Old Man was the most streamed television series across all platforms in the United States, between June 1, 2022, and 30, 2022,[31] as well as during the week ending July 3, 2022,[32] and the third during the week ending July 17, 2022.[33]
